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POST-FLASHPOINT
After Flashpoint, the entire DCU will be relaunched in September with some major continuity shuffling and re-configuring.

Here are the biggest changes for the Bat Titles:
-Batman, Inc will be going on hiatus after issue 10 until early 2012
-Bruce will again be the only Batman; Dick will go back to a new Nightwing title while Bruce will take his spot in Batman & Robin, Batman, and Detective. Damian will still be Robin.
-Barbara is Batgirl again, somehow, with Gail writing.. Beyond upsetting the fans, I could see this also cannibalizing the sales of Batwoman, as I think Barbara as experienced Batgirl is a little too similar to Kate Kane.
-Poor Tim Drake is getting another costume redesign, but this time it's actually awful. Also, there's a possibility now that he was never Robin or at least has a new origin.
-Red Hood is getting a book where he leads a team of anti-heroes called "the outlaws," featuring Arsenal and Starfire. This seems to be in lieu of an Outsiders title.
-Batwing is getting his own book.
-Tony Daniel and Scott Snyder are switching titles.
-Tomasi & Gleason's B&R run is finally happening, but with Bruce.

-Scott Snyder is running a sort of mini Bat-Event with Gates of Gotham, as his Black Mirror story comes to an end (to be collected entirely in a fancy Hardcover).
-Batman, Inc finally seems to be shipping on time. And Cass is back, for all you fanboy duders.
-I've really liked all the Batman & Robin arcs so far, post-Morrison. I haven't read the Winnick issue that's out yet, but I've been digging his stuff lately.
-Paul Dini's tie-in comic to the Arkham Asylum game will add some shit to the story there, and it's got digital mini-issues that you also might want to grab. Or wait for a trade, likely coinciding with the game's release right after the book wraps up.
-I haven't heard much about the other titles in awhile. I assume that Red Robin and Batgirl are still solid Bat-family fun, while Batman is incredibly middling. I imagine DC is building a robot of some sort to pencil issue 3 of the Dark Knight for Finch, scheduled to ship sometime in 2017. Did they can Gotham City Sirens yet?
-Birds of Prey is probably a Bat-book, isn't it?

HINTS
We learned some fun things in Batman, Inc 6 that would likely play into a relaunch, or at least into future storylines in the other books. Here are a couple:
(Spoilers for the sensitive)

-Bruce put Tim in charge of the Outsiders
-Cass is back as "The Black Bat," the Batman of Hong Kong.
-Bruce is a massive Internet troll.

Also, it sounded like people weren't sure if Snyder is coming back to Detective, but it seems probable that he will hang around in a Batbook somewhere. Greg Capullo from Image's Haunt is also said to be taking on a Batbook in the new launch. And we all hope now that Brightest Day is done, Gleason & Tomasi can come do a real run on Batman and Robin because their arc was a ton'o'fun. Finally, it seems that DC held back Batwoman so it could ride some extra hype as part of the post-flashpoint relaunch.

If I want to read the recent BAT STORIES, Where Do I Start!?

Grant Morrison's Batman Run:

Batman and Son

The Black Glove

Batman: RIP

Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn

Batman and Robin: Batman Vs Robin

Time and the Batman

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne

Batman and Robin: Batman & Robin Must Die

Some other suggestions:

Batwoman: Elegy

Batman: The Black Mirror

Paul Dini's Bat-work:

Private Casebook

Heart of Hush

Streets of Gotham: Hush Money

Streets of Gotham: Leviathan (Note: This has nothing to do with the Batman, Inc. storyline of the same name)

Streets of Gotham: House of Hush

Arkham Asylum (Both the games and the current limited series are written by Dini)

That is the majority of the bat-news that is fit to print for the moment, and a pretty ramshackle OP that will at least answer the big questions.

Finally read 701. Liked it a lot. It was just Bruce decompressing after RIP, and it almost reminded me of the claremont-basketball-x-men. I'm sure the people who were really confused about RIP and the FC tie ins feel really stupid now after Bruce essentially just swims back to shore and goes home in the first three pages.

I loved the art on it. Tony Daniel knocked it out of the park on pencils. I actually love the dude's stuff. His part in 700 was kind of meh, and the art in his own run felt rushed and unclear sometimes, but the RIP Deluxe Hardcover is absolutely gorgeous. Also, I don't know if he got a new colorist, but the colors on this were just vivid and beautiful. I don't normally notice coloring in these books all that often, but this was fantastic. Every subtle detail in Bruce's face really stood out in some of the scenes, right down to a redness in his cheeks from exhaustion. Great stuff.

701 is working better than I imagined. I'm pretty certain it's a different colourist with Daniel, the work looks miles better than RIP's colouring. And the ideas are aligning together suprisingly well, just by focusing into a single narrative through Bruce's eyes.

Finally read 701. Liked it a lot. It was just Bruce decompressing after RIP, and it almost reminded me of the claremont-basketball-x-men. I'm sure the people who were really confused about RIP and the FC tie ins feel really stupid now after Bruce essentially just swims back to shore and goes home in the first three pages.

I loved the art on it. Tony Daniel knocked it out of the park on pencils. I actually love the dude's stuff. His part in 700 was kind of meh, and the art in his own run felt rushed and unclear sometimes, but the RIP Deluxe Hardcover is absolutely gorgeous. Also, I don't know if he got a new colorist, but the colors on this were just vivid and beautiful. I don't normally notice coloring in these books all that often, but this was fantastic. Every subtle detail in Bruce's face really stood out in some of the scenes, right down to a redness in his cheeks from exhaustion. Great stuff.

tony daniel as an artist is fantastic. it's just his writing that is subpar.

There's also Detective and Death and the City from Dini's Detective Comics run. They were pretty awesome.

I would've listed them, but unfortunately they're both out of print in all formats.

That sucks. I've been having some troubles myself getting my hands on the first two Gotham Central deluxe hardcovers.

As for Tony Daniel, I don't I'd call his art fantastic. It is pretty good most of the time but it does slip occasionally. Saying that, he has improved a hell of a lot since he started his Teen Titans gig. His writing on the other hand, is definitely pretty piss poor.

There's also Detective and Death and the City from Dini's Detective Comics run. They were pretty awesome.

I would've listed them, but unfortunately they're both out of print in all formats.

That sucks. I've been having some troubles myself getting my hands on the first two Gotham Central deluxe hardcovers.

As for Tony Daniel, I don't I'd call his art fantastic. It is pretty good most of the time but it does slip occasionally. Saying that, he has improved a hell of a lot since he started his Teen Titans gig. His writing on the other hand, is definitely pretty piss poor.

I think the first two Gotham Central Hardcovers will be getting new printings soon due to the last ones finally being released.

As for Tony Daniel, he certainly isn't a good writer yet, but I do believe he has potential. Yeah, his first Batman arc was essentially a giant misstep, but there were some good moments and some good issues in that lengthy introductory run. Another thing that threw him was having to write Dick-Batman, which I really wouldn't expect any first-time writer to be able to cope with writing a replacement hero as the first assignment.

I think the dude will pick up the pieces, learn from his mistakes, and get better at writing as time goes on. In a couple years, he'll probably even be someone to watch.

And no, I don't plan on reading his Batman book (anytime soon, at least). But maybe if he does get better, I will grab the trades.

HadjiQuest on July 2010

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Linespider5I would've done the same to you, friendRegistered Userregular

After 701 I've been musing on the Orion theme in Morrison's work. There may be no end revelation on this, but it is an interesting path.

Obviously there's the murder of Orion from Final Crisis, but Wayne Manor also has its family paintings with the Orion constellation, referencing the apparent 'hidden room' Bruce apparently walks into for the first(?) time in 701. And in the beginning of 701 when Bruce is swimming in the Gotham river, we get another instance of the constellation set into a panel for no clear purpose, other than to be there.

There's a little bit of fun to be had, given that Orion was the 'good son' of Darkseid, reflecting Bruce's current Dr. Hurt paternity quandries (as well as the all-but confirmed fatherhood of Bruce to Damien). Last Rites also had Bruce locked into a machine that from a distance looked an like a massive version of Orion's helmet.

I recall there were some rumblings that Morrison originally wanted an ascendence type this with Bruce becoming a New God in Final Crisis, likely becoming Orion, which didn't happen...likely leading to Morrison salvaging some of the concepts into something else.

Seeing as how Darkseid is managing to remain in the picture, perhaps there's another layer, beyond Hurt, beyond Damien, beyond the Mexican Trainwreck of the Joker....and with an eclipse on the way with a time-travelling Bruce Wayne all Omega-powered...there may yet be some kind of New God magic being readied to help wrap this all up.

This is my guess, and I'm sure probably some of you have made the same inference

Dr. Hurt is Thomas Wayne from beyond the bleed.

This could 18th Century Thomas Wayne the Devil Worshiper, an Elseworlds Thomas Wayne who paid to have his Wife and Son murdered, a devil-like 'ultimate evil' similar to the bleedified cthulu (or possibly it in another form), or all of the above put together.

HadjiQuest on July 2010

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TexiKenChistmas is all aroundthe extra syllable in the fourth lineRegistered Userregular

Mentioned it in the bitching thread, it is really stupid and now I have to be on the lookout to see if DC or Marvel does this for other books now. I'm just disappointed in Dini more than anything, I love the dude's work but that's not a cool move, brah.

I always wondered why they called it a "second feature" instead of a back-up, now I know why.

He kind of got away with taking the brunt of it, but I remember his response to reaction of the first few issues was a bit testy. I think he fell on the "of course they're not good now but it gets better honest!" excuse

edit: Dini is writing a lot of stuff for movies and games for DC which is messing with his comics output.

Having only written 8 of the 14 Streets of Gotham issues (including the 12 page mini-story in #14) and 9 of the 13 Gotham City Sirens issues, I've no clue why DC haven't replaced him on at least one of his books. His writing is still great but when you're missing nearly an entire year of issues between the two, you really should wake the hell up and recognise you need to drop your workload a bit.

I can't blame Dini for Countdown though, it always seemed to be more editorials project than his.

Dini wrote Arkham Asylum and the upcoming Arkham Asylum 2 (or whatever it will be called). I'm pretty confident that those projects have made/will make more money than any number of comics he would write, so the games are getting a big priority.

Ceno on July 2010

PSN: Genesius_Prime

0

TexiKenChistmas is all aroundthe extra syllable in the fourth lineRegistered Userregular

And Morrison mentions a big 2 year overview he gave editor Mike Marts for others to be aware of, that would mean more if this wasn't the guy who changes things at the last minute. Hopefully it would be concrete this time.

After 701 I've been musing on the Orion theme in Morrison's work. There may be no end revelation on this, but it is an interesting path.

Obviously there's the murder of Orion from Final Crisis, but Wayne Manor also has its family paintings with the Orion constellation, referencing the apparent 'hidden room' Bruce apparently walks into for the first(?) time in 701. And in the beginning of 701 when Bruce is swimming in the Gotham river, we get another instance of the constellation set into a panel for no clear purpose, other than to be there.

There's a little bit of fun to be had, given that Orion was the 'good son' of Darkseid, reflecting Bruce's current Dr. Hurt paternity quandries (as well as the all-but confirmed fatherhood of Bruce to Damien). Last Rites also had Bruce locked into a machine that from a distance looked an like a massive version of Orion's helmet.

I recall there were some rumblings that Morrison originally wanted an ascendence type this with Bruce becoming a New God in Final Crisis, likely becoming Orion, which didn't happen...likely leading to Morrison salvaging some of the concepts into something else.

Seeing as how Darkseid is managing to remain in the picture, perhaps there's another layer, beyond Hurt, beyond Damien, beyond the Mexican Trainwreck of the Joker....and with an eclipse on the way with a time-travelling Bruce Wayne all Omega-powered...there may yet be some kind of New God magic being readied to help wrap this all up.

Well, yeah. The ending is totally going to be Bat-Orion vs. Bat-clone Darkseid.

So I just picked up Detective Comics 854-857, the start of Batwoman's run. It's good so far and I was wondering, is this Kate Kain's return after the events of 52, or does she appear again earlier?

Also, I was planning on catching up with the times. I've read Final Crysis and the RIP run. I was planning on getting Morrison's Batman and Robin as well as Return of Bruce Wayne. So, what else should I bother reading? Anything good from Batman or Detective Comics(other than Batwoman's run which I'll be picking up in full)?

So I just picked up Detective Comics 854-857, the start of Batwoman's run. It's good so far and I was wondering, is this Kate Kain's return after the events of 52, or does she appear again earlier?

Also, I was planning on catching up with the times. I've read Final Crysis and the RIP run. I was planning on getting Morrison's Batman and Robin as well as Return of Bruce Wayne. So, what else should I bother reading? Anything good from Batman or Detective Comics(other than Batwoman's run which I'll be picking up in full)?

Thanks in advance, you guys are the best!

Kate played a supporting role to Renee in Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood, a mini-series that came out a year or so before Rucka's run on Detective Comics. Otherwise, Final Crisis: Revelations might be a recommendation since it kinda ties into the same Crime Bible cult stuff. Otherwise, I can't remember any other appearances beforehand (her appearance in Batman and Robin was afterwards) but you can thank DC for taking so bloody long to start the series, Rucka and JH Williams had been planning it for years.

Pac Man's character is difficult to explain even to the Japanese -- he is an innocent character. He hasn't been educated to discern between good and evil. He acts more like a small child than a grown-up person. Think of him as a child learning in the course of his daily activities. If someone tells him guns are evil, he would be the type to rush out and eat guns. But he would most probably eat any gun, even the pistols of policemen who need them.